Growing up, the culinary duties in our house fell mostly to my mother, but certain dishes were Dad’s domain, including anything on the grill.

Between Memorial Day and Labor day, the grill was filled with burgers, hot dogs and an occasional steak — a splurge on an journalist’s budget with a passel of kids.

He had it pretty easy whenever he did cook.

Mom prepped all the ingredients, prepared all the side dishes, set the table and cleaned up afterward, too. (What was she thinking?)

I still can see him standing at the grill, long handled spatula in hand, flipping burgers while we kids vied for his attention.

To keep us occupied, he created timed races for us. We’d take off from the patio and run as fast as we could to the back fence and back.

He counted the seconds and then declared one of us victorious, usually one of my long-legged older brothers, or my quick-as-a-rabbit younger brother. I was more like a turtle, and my sister, her nose in a book, couldn’t be bothered with silly races — or sweat.

I loved those long, lazy, summer Sundays in West Texas. The sounds and smells flash back to me anytime I’m standing over the grill, flipping burgers.

So this Father’s Day, even though I can’t be in Texas with Dad, I’ll fire up our grill and throw on a couple burgers to toast the man who made our summers so sweet and memorable.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.

Steve’s BBQ Burgers

Steve is my baby brother, who’s not a baby anymore. Now at family gatherings, he’s the guy behind the grill, and Dad is all too happy to turn the tongs over to him, especially when these burgers are on the menu.

Nice and smoky, thanks to the liquid smoke and barbecue sauce, they taste even better if you prepare them for the grill earlier in the day. Take them out of the fridge to take the chill off while you heat up the grill.

Gwen, Loved reading of your brother’ burger recipe. Will have to try it. Another recipe I have heard of but not tried is to use Dijon mustard in mixing up the patties. Know anything about it ?
Thanks for the totally appropriate Father’s Day card. Will try to follow the advice it contains.
Love to all, including Skylar and Chloe–Oh, Jeff too.
Dad
Walters East

PEN & FORK® is edited and published by Gwen Ashley Walters, a professionally trained chef, cookbook author and food journalist.

Recent Posts

PEN & FORK® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to amazon.com. Thank you for supporting PEN & FORK.